Georgia Stoneman is pleased to present Rachel Nicholson: A Room with a View, the first solo presentation of the artist's work since 2016. Focusing on paintings which feature objects in relation to a sense of space and place, the selection includes key works which exemplify Nicholson’s fascination with still life, her draw to the natural landscape and meticulous attention to detail.
Featuring paintings and works on paper from the artist's personal collection, the exhibition reveals the artist’s dedication to developing her own distinctive style, acknowledging the influence of her parents, particularly her father Ben Nicholson on her work, yet focusing on the importance of developing an artistic language of one's own, with works exhibited dating from 1975 to the present day.
Despite growing up in a creative environment, it wasn’t until relatively later in life, when her youngest child started school, that Nicholson began to paint at the age of 41. At first she painted still life compositions, developing over the years into a range of landscape images ranging from Cumbria, Derbyshire and Cornwall. Her first solo exhibition was held in 1979 at the Field Gallery, Nottingham. This was followed in 1980, by her first solo London exhibition, at the Montpelier Studio, where she continued to exhibit for the next 20 years.
She has exhibited at numerous prestigious public and private galleries, including Beaux Arts Bath, Crane Kalman (The Nicholsons) and Tate St Ives.
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The artist daughter of two of the Titans of Modern British Art. At her first London exhibition in June 1980, Rachel's father Ben Nicholson, commented on one picture. 'Still Life on Navy Blue, 1979: 'I never realised she could paint so well. I would have been happy to have painted that one myself'.
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1975 - 1980
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Rachel Nicholson, Untitled, 1975View more details -
Rachel Nicholson, Composition with Two Brown Objects, 1976View more details
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Rachel Nicholson, Two Blue with Glasses, 1976View more details
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Rachel Nicholson, Bottle & Mug, 1977View more details
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‘I think my youngest child had started going to primary school and I suddenly realised I’d got time to think actually. I always had a vague idea I might paint one day, but knowing that Alfred Wallis started at seventy, I thought it may be seventy'.
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1981 - 1990
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‘I think I was, obviously I would say, influenced by my father but I think the way in which I was influenced most was that he was extremely tidy, because, this is the important thing, because the relationship of objects is so important and that’s something which I’ve clearly inherited’.
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1991 - 2000
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Rachel Nicholson, Red on Black, 1991View more details
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Rachel Nicholson, Small and Striped Mug, 1991View more details
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Rachel Nicholson, Still Life with Yellow 2, 1991View more details
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Rachel Nicholson, Derbyshire with Jugs, 1991View more details
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Rachel Nicholson, Room with a View in Derbyshire, 2002 (in situ)
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(on HER interest in the sea) ‘I think it’s subconscious, because I think blue is very important to me, and the different blues actually, which is another fascination, is how much the colour of the sea changes and so on and I think without realising it, it must have had an impact’.
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2001 - 2014
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Rachel Nicholson, A Yorkshire View, 2003/5/12View more details
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Rachel Nicholson, One Striped Mug, One Lustre Jug with Spoon, 2007View more details
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Rachel Nicholson, New Jug, Old Jug, 2008View more details
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Rachel Nicholson, Trio with Spoon, 2010View more details
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‘The objects in the room, or wherever they may be, are in some extent an extension of the painting’.
- RACHEL NICHOLSON
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Michael Berkeley and Rachel Nicholson in her London studio for BBC Radio 3
Composer and Broadcaster Michael Berkeley CBE and Rachel Nicholson in her London studio in 2015 for his weekly music discussion programme Private Passions on BBC Radio 3, where they discuss Nicholson's career and the influence of music on her paintings. The episode is available to listen to by clicking here.
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A look inside Rachel Nicholson's studio
Collection of objects in Rachel Nicholson's studio, some of which can be seen depicted in paintings including One Striped Mug, One Lustre Jug with Spoon (2007), New Jug, Old Jug (2008) and Arrangement of Five (2014).
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